Feeling renewed!

231 followers

Updated 10 years ago

Let me begin by saying that I am very happy to be a part of this program. In the few hours that I've spent poking around the startup guides and training tools I've seen enough to feel like this product offers a good blueprint for success.

I created my first affiliate site in late-2007 and have been hooked ever since. Although my first 2 sites were duds, I kept with it and eventually got some momentum. I did not enter into this with pie in the sky goals of making a million dollars per year, but I had expectations of making what I'd hoped to be a modest 'part-time' income to help support my family while I grew a start up freelance design business. I also figured what better way to hone my SEO skills than to create successful affiliate sites, right?!

I spent many hours hard at work on my projects, but because I pursued niches that I was passionate about, the work was at least interesting and rewarding! Eventually I started to see some traffic, followed by some ad clicks, which eventually led to some additional income! What an incredible feeling that was...making money from a business I was solely responsible for, without the need to provide a service of any kind (apart from my writing), manage an inventory, or handle any sort of hands-on customer support!

And while I am a very service-oriented person, I admit that it is nice to not have to deal with the logistics involved with shipping a product or service. My 'day job' is web services provider, so I get plenty of client interaction there.

So, anyway, back to the topic at hand...

Within a few years of starting out in IM I was consistently earning in upwards of $1500 per month, with my best month hitting close to $2.8K. I felt like an affiliate marketing rock star! And bear in mind that this was achieved through many hours of research, trial and error - being that I was completely self-taught.

One important bit of advice I heeded early on was to just get going...don't get stuck in analysis paralysis - over-thinking everything - just get out there and start doing it! Which is what I did.

Then, as time wore on, my dev business started to become more demanding as did my niche sites. As my audience grew, so did the content demand; and as my client base grew, so did my need to be available to those clients. Problem was/is, it's more difficult to answer to paying clients than it is to an anonymous group of internet surfers, so I eventually had to shift much of my focus away from IM and devote it to my design and SEO clients, thus letting my affiliate sites wither a bit.

However...I have kept my dream alive of still one day becoming successful at affiliate marketing, which is how I've ended up here. :)

After over 8 years of 'messing around', I've finally decided to get serious and take a hard look at spending more time 'doing the right things', rather than just doing.

I upgraded to premium 2 days ago . . . and I am focused. I've determined my first new 'profitable niche' and will be pursuing it with vigor in the coming weeks and months. I am feeling renewed and committed right now, yet I wanted to get my thoughts down in writing - not only for me to reflect on, but also for accountability. I am going to force myself to stay on task and achieve my goals, which i think has been part of my problem...

I absolutely need to have a goal in mind (and so do you!), and I'm not talking 'get out of debt', 'get rich', or retire in 3 years whilst I spend the rest of my days sipping on adult beverages on a tropical beach somewhere... I'm determining how much money I want to make this next year in IM and that is what I'm going to get!

...And WA is going to help me get there! I feel like I just joined a kickass gym, coupled with an eagerness and motivation to whip myself into shape!

I'm excited!